Why you need a professionally designed web site
Virtually anyone can quickly 'concoct' a web page in an editor such as MS FrontPage without much knowledge of web design.
However, FrontPage, for example, generates 'messy' code behind the page, some of which is proprietary to Microsoft. This can't easily be put right by the person creating it. Consequently, a web site that looks wonderful in Internet Explorer may look dreadful in a different browser, thereby turning away valuable visitor traffic.
If you haven't checked your website in different browsers you may not realise how bad it looks!
Poor code can also hinder search engines from being able to read your site, meaning that they may not include it in their databases.
Remember that your web site is your shop window on the world. Just as you would never consider printing your own advertising literature because it would look home built, a web site built by an amateur will appear just that to visitors and search engines.
Importance of design, colours, images... and search engines!
Web site design should always have visitor usability and appeal in mind. Above all, keep the design simple otherwise your visitors will get lost in your site and wander off... probably to your competitor's website.
When creating a website it is vitally important not to forget about your 'best friends', the search engines. For both humans and search engines it is vital to have a web site that is well built and easy to navigate.
Make sure your design company can not only build good-looking sites, but are also experts in doing what it takes to get their clients' web sites to the top of search results. Get this wrong and you could end up with a website that may look good, but sinks without trace on the internet. Designers may tell you how good their web sites are, but can they prove it?
Every picture tells a story, or does it?
Search engines want to classify pages by text, not images. If you have a home page with a beautiful picture of mountains and just one word of text saying "Enter", then this page will not rank highly in searches for "mountain holidays."
Likewise, pages created using Flash, or purely from images are NOT search engine friendly. Flash can't be read by search engines, nor can they see what is in an image. Moreover, these types of websites are often not that user friendly either!
Remember: pictures tell, but words sell. This is largely true, although a web site without any images at all will be very tiring on the eye and dull for the user. Always try to strike a balance between informative text and images.
